Understanding and catering to preferences of an ever-evolving and fragmented consumer base is the latest challenge that UK retailers have to navigate. While online shopping continues its upward growth trajectory in the digital era, physical stores still retain their appeal for a substantial portion of UK consumers.

The statistics don’t lie. E-commerce sales account for 37.8% of retail sales, proving that the online shopping trend has extended way past younger generations as shoppers of all ages embrace the convenience and broader product selection offered by online stores. This is not to say that the experience offered by physical stores should be underestimated: approximately 64% of UK shoppers contribute to in-store footfall, underscoring just how indispensable brick-and-mortar stores are.

In these economically challenging times, retailers must strategically position themselves to capture their customers’ disposable income. Rather than taking the most popular, one-size-fits-all approach of the season, businesses must maintain both channels with flexible solutions that allow them to provide personalised experiences with minimal time and resource investment.

8x8 SMS is must-have marketing hack

As the original communication channel that has been around since the days of the classic Nokia phone, SMS offers a happy middle solution that allows UK retailers to straddle the gap between digital and in-store preferences. With an impressive open rate of 98%, SMS can help UK retailers maintain strong brand presence by delivering purchase confirmations, order details, promotional offerings, and other forms of communications without relying on the internet.

The unparalleled open rate also makes SMS a smart way for businesses to cut through saturated email marketing and social media channels that are no doubt filled with businesses jostling to gain a slice of the global digital pie. And in case you’re worried about painstakingly typing out each SMS one-by-one, rest assured knowing that 8x8 SMS allows for easy template customisation, audience segmentation, scheduling, and analytics reporting. If you’re looking for a marketing hack that offers a significant reward to effort ratio, you definitely won’t want to skip out on SMS.

8x8 Chat Apps are the modern sidekick of SMS

Of course, we’re not saying that digital channels don’t matter. Far from it. In fact, for UK retailers that cater to highly varied demographics, 8x8 Chat Apps may be just the omnichannel solution. With a tech-powered interface similar to that of 8x8 SMS, 8x8 Chat Apps can amplify the digital presence of any UK retailer across Facebook Messenger, Whatsapp, WeChat, KakaoTalk, Viber, and Zalo. Combine these apps with SMS and you’ll quite literally create a brand that customers cannot ignore.

This not only allows businesses to cater to individual communication preferences, but to also gain greater reach into foreign communities that would likely not interact with their business otherwise. By meeting their customers halfway, retailers can play the long game by nurturing brand loyalty at every stage of the customer journey.

Turn ads into two-way conversations with 8x8 Converse

Allowing customers to ask questions is a great way to not just convince them to purchase, but also to prevent post-purchase buyers’ regret that will inevitably lead to poor business reviews. 8x8 Converse allows businesses to chat digitally with customers across all the aforementioned platforms from a single interface. The support of rich media such as photos and videos means that customer service agents will be able to analyse both in-store photos and screenshots taken by customers and clarify their doubts on the spot.

And for major retailers offering a diverse range of products, 8x8 Converse’s advanced ticket queuing system makes it possible to route customer inquiries to agents who are most well-equipped to deal with their situation. This approach helps to maximise productivity by minimising the amount of time customers have to wait before receiving a response. Setting auto-replies tailored for specific customer segments can also allow retailers to answer FAQs immediately or even buy more time for customers with more complex issues.

Bring your front desk anywhere with 8x8 Video Interaction

Live, personalised support will always be the quickest way to resolve customer queries while building a positive, memorable experience. 8x8 Video Interaction makes it possible for customer service teams to provide the largest number of customers with that personalised experience through conference rooms that are activated with the click of a link.

These 100% web-based and mobile optimised rooms can be embedded into websites and copied onto messages sent across all channels. What’s more, these channels can be designed in a way that allows businesses to leave your signature brand image, so that it’s always top-of-mind with the target audience.

Video calls also help to save significant time and money on wasted trips, not just for businesses, but more importantly for customers who will no doubt appreciate not having to carry their purchase and receipt down to a physical store when requesting a refund or exchange.

8x8 Communication APIs: the smarter way to do marketing and customer service

8x8 Communication APIs require only minutes to install and will shave minutes off your employees’ day-to-day lives, as well as the purchasing journey of your customers.

With easy-to-follow documentation guides, and round-the-clock customer service, you can be assured that any hiccups will be resolved in a jiffy, too. Because when you’re looking to be the best, there’s no time to stop and play catch-up. Take charge of your retail journey by embracing a solution that solves more problems than it poses.

Learn more about 8x8's solutions for retail here.